History of Theater: 1890 - 1920
“Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” – William Shakespeare
The theatre has been a part of entertainment since ancient Greece, around 4th century BC or thereabouts. The theatre grew out of festivals in honor of the god Dionysus. Aeschylus created the first play in her honor. The first Greek plays were all tragedies but eventually comedy made its way and these plays were performed at festivals all over Greece. Through the centuries theater played the main role of entertainment from noble and royalty to the common person in any city or village, and as we move into the twenties century, theater was still a huge part of the entertainment for the masses.
At the start of the 20th Century, America was in full glory of its cultural adolescence, bursting with energy. London was still the theatrical center of the world, but New York was gaining its own form of sophistication and acknowledgement. By 1900 most of the signs on Broadway had gone electric, and New York City’s famous theater district soon became know as “The Great White Way.” It was known as the Mecca of the American theatrical world: the rest of the country was referred to by people in show business as “the road.” In 1904, the city opened its first underground subway system, and thanks to this system, tens of thousands living far from the theatre district could catch a Broadway show and still be home the same evening. With this increase of commuters and the ever growing number of tourist to New York, Broadway theatres’ audiences more than tripled in less that one year. Thus the productions had longer running times than ever before. At this time the majority of Broadway shows came from London, with English actors, producers, and directors. Then in 1903, Frank L. Baum’s children’s novel The Wizard of Oz was the first-ever all
The theatre has been a part of entertainment since ancient Greece, around 4th century BC or thereabouts. The theatre grew out of festivals in honor of the god Dionysus. Aeschylus created the first play in her honor. The first Greek plays were all tragedies but eventually comedy made its way and these plays were performed at festivals all over Greece. Through the centuries theater played the main role of entertainment from noble and royalty to the common person in any city or village, and as we move into the twenties century, theater was still a huge part of the entertainment for the masses.
At the start of the 20th Century, America was in full glory of its cultural adolescence, bursting with energy. London was still the theatrical center of the world, but New York was gaining its own form of sophistication and acknowledgement. By 1900 most of the signs on Broadway had gone electric, and New York City’s famous theater district soon became know as “The Great White Way.” It was known as the Mecca of the American theatrical world: the rest of the country was referred to by people in show business as “the road.” In 1904, the city opened its first underground subway system, and thanks to this system, tens of thousands living far from the theatre district could catch a Broadway show and still be home the same evening. With this increase of commuters and the ever growing number of tourist to New York, Broadway theatres’ audiences more than tripled in less that one year. Thus the productions had longer running times than ever before. At this time the majority of Broadway shows came from London, with English actors, producers, and directors. Then in 1903, Frank L. Baum’s children’s novel The Wizard of Oz was the first-ever all